More User Reviews:

Presentation: From the Kulminator in Antwerp, BE. Poured into an Ename tulip glass.

Appearance: A dark brown beer topped with a creamy biege foam head; loads of stick and retention. The head appeared extra-creamy ... much eye candy.

Smell: Pretty damn clean. Ultra-clean.

Taste & Mouthfeel: Blissfully creamy mouthfeel and smooth consistency on the palate. Fruity esters follow, with a fairly malty character of chocolate and caramel. Hops play out with complex herbal flavours, mixed with some slight medicinal and liquorice. Dry, musty finish and notes of yeast.

Notes & Drinkability: A good dubbel, however I was a bit let down by the lack of aroma. Still, a very flavourful beer for the quaffing. (712 characters)

Picked up a bottle of this brew at the Rt. 59 Beverage store behind the Palisades mall in Rockland county NY. Stubby Belgian bottle, pours a rudy and cloudy dark brown plummy color. Nose also is of plums and rum soaked raisins. Light tan head clings and leaves nice lacing. This is a smooth and drinkable dubbel. Full flavored, with soft notes of raisins, bananas, vanilla, rum, sweet potatos (?!) and a mixture of fruity flavors swimming around. Interesting and tasty stuff. Worth seeking out. (494 characters)

The beers pours a deep garnet color with a huge beige head and nice velum like sheets of lace to obscure the glass. Nose is very light, some malt, a hint of nutty sweetness and the start quite sweet, the top is light to moderate in feel. Finish is highly carbonated, quite acidic, a some hops are noted, a drinkable beer, but by no means a World Class Dubbel'. (362 characters)

Pours a hazy deep brown-ish color with a light tan head. In the aroma, fruity, with notes of raisins. In the taste, mellow fruit and a small caramel flavor, a bit watery as well. A small bite and medium to lighter bodied mouthfeel, with a small dry caramel in the aftertaste. Quite thin and watery, a light taste, eh, I have had better. (336 characters)

As a third different dubbel/bruin belgium style I tasted a Ename Dubbel. Smell is malty with a little hops and the taste is karamel malty. Not to much hops but a pleasant beer. Foam stayed on the beer during the whole drinking time. But don't know if the foam was from a everlasting durance because in my eyes this one has one problem: it drinks away to easy! (359 characters)

I bought a 33 cl bottle of this uncommon Belgian dubbel from a merchant known for their dusty bottles. On top of that, ownership of this business had recently changed hands and the new owners had little knowledge of their inherited inventory. But the new proprietress appreciated my thoughtful deliberations over her wares and took the trouble to point me towards some of her back stock, in this case the Ename Dubbel. She assured me that even though a few bottles had visibly rusted about the caps, the beer itself was still good. Further, she insisted that many beers improved with age.

I didnt care to argue with her about the effects of temperature variations and fluorescent lighting or the relevance of ABV to the process of maturation. I merely pointed out to her that the bottle she presented to me was clearly marked with Best before end: April 97 on it. That would have been about eight and a half years ago.

Well, she was a good sport (and a good saleswoman) so she offered to give me something of an exchange if the beer later turned out to be undrinkable. With these assurances I plopped down $2.50 for the bottle and gave the beer a careful tasting. Glad I did. After eight and a half years the carbonation lacked vigor, but was still charged. The beer poured a dark, clouded topaz with a delightfully sweet, clover-honey nose. The beer produced no lace and I did see a modest deposit of rust at the cap after opening the bottle, but there was no outward sign of spoilage to the beer itself. The malts were full and fruity while the hops had long since declined. A measure of alcohol lent some bite to the taste which otherwise resembled golden raisins.

If this is what the beer tasted like eight and a half years after its freshness date lapsed, I wish Id had some back in 97. (1,818 characters)